Do you want to increase your practice’s social media presence? Facebook Live is your best bet.
Facebook Live is the most effective and cost-efficient social video channel. With more than 100 million hours of daily video watch time, it can have a significant effect on your dental practice.
Here are five ways to help you take immediate advantage of Facebook Live.
Build Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is one of the key areas where big companies spend a huge amount of money. Online marketers tend to think of it in very broad terms. However, businesses still invest in brand awareness to lift ad recall and raise brand preference in the midst of other goals.1
Heineken, for instance, has promoted its more than 100 music festivals all over the world by using live video. This strategy has benefitted Heineken the most in Taiwan, where it excels as the most popular imported beer.
The brewer used Facebook Live to offer a real concert experience to the youth of Taiwan as part of its worldwide “Live Your Music” campaign. Heineken used its live concerts along with Facebook Live to increase its brand value and preference.
Featuring local celebrities on Facebook Live, Heineken broadcasted three sets of 30-minute concerts. This allowed the company to reach a huge number of fans who could enjoy the concerts from all around the world.
Heineken Taiwan was able to accomplish a brand equity score of 8.66 at the end of the campaign, achieving a new record.2 In addition, the company saw a 4% increase in sales compared to the previous year, a 10-point lift in brand recall,3 and a 100-basis-point increase4 in market share in three months.
Increase Engagement with the Audience
Engagement is the essence of a fruitful Facebook Live campaign. Engaging and entertaining live videos enable you to ensure you have your audience’s attention.
Another company that excels at social media engagement is Buzzfeed. For example, two of its employees once decided to test how many rubber bands could explode a watermelon. To garner attention for this event, Buzzfeed live streamed the video.
The live stream was nothing fancy. The stream was 45 minutes long, featuring two people wrapping rubber bands around a watermelon. Though the event was ordinary, it still attracted more than 807,000 viewers at its peak because it played on the audience’s inquisitiveness.
Buzzfeed attracted 11 million viewers total, 319,000 comments, 53,000 reactions, and nearly 18,000 shares after publishing the video. Undoubtedly, the event showcased the power of engagement, so don’t overthink things the next time you want to use live video. Make it engaging, and draw people to your brand.
Hold Live Q&As
Live Q&A and “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) videos are effective in increasing engagement by directly connecting an audience with an influencer. The more popular the influencer, the higher the chances of the video publisher engaging its audience will be. Moreover, live Q&A and AMA help extend watch times as audiences wait longer to see their questions answered.
French cosmetics retailer Sephora tapped Jen Atkin of OUAI Haircare and Christophe Robin Paris for 35 minutes to answer the audience’s questions about beauty and makeup.
Both influencers offered solutions to the audience’s problems during the live video. Most significantly, Sephora ensured that the influencers cited its products while giving tips to the audience on improving style.
The video garnered 86,000 views, increasing Sephora’s engagement with its audience. Also, it urged viewers to search for the brand’s products online, leading to further conversions.
Cover Interesting Events
Events and live videos work extremely well together. According to Livestream, 67% of live video viewers are more likely to go to an event after watching its live video. People feel like they’re part of the event when they watch a video urging them to attend it.
For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York used Facebook Live to showcase behind-the-scenes glimpses of its “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between” exhibition before its launch. The video attracted 181,000 views, 646 comments, 4,200 reactions, and 1,739 shares. The Met was able to drive tremendous event awareness and sell tickets as well.
Do Live Product/Procedure Demos
Live demonstrations enable people to see products in action without any editing. These live demos also cover the flaws of virtual promotions that do not let people see the product or service physically.
A popular fashion blog, Who What Wear, has more than 1.5 million followers on Facebook. The blog connected with Saks Fifth Avenue, the giant luxury department store, for its latest fall outerwear line’s promotion.
This cross-promotion allowed Who What Wear to show new products to its audience and Saks Fifth Avenue to connect with a larger audience in a more genuine way. The video acquired 78,230 views, 30 shares, 409 likes, and 99 comments.
Key Takeaway
Facebook Live is a tremendous tool to build and engage your following with appropriate content. Video consumption is becoming more common than ever, and delivering videos live is the best way to do it. Use Facebook Live to boost your social media presence and generate ensured results for your dental practice.
References
- Brand preference: The tendency to choose a particular company’s product or service when there are other equally competitive options available. Brand preference reflects on customer loyalty, smart marketing tactics, and brand value.
- Brand equity: The inherent value of a brand. If the company’s product or service drives more sales simply because of brand preference and consumer perception, a commercial value can be attached to the brand, which is its brand equity. A brand equity score reflects the difference between the number of people who see the brand as better or worse than its competition
- Brand recall: The unaided recall of a brand by consumers when a product is mentioned.
- Basis point: One basis point is equal to 0.01%. This measurement unit is used when very minute changes of percentage matter significantly.
Mr. Arulrajah is president and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete Internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education, and the online reputations of dentists. With a team of more than 140 full-time marketers, ekwa.com helps dentists who know where they want to go get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call (855) 598-3320 or email naren@ekwa.com.
Related Articles
Patient Reviews: The Good, the Bad, and the Viral
Use LinkedIn to Promote Your Dental Practice
